BOYS’ BASKETBALL: Valencia’s Lonnie Jackson begins to step out of father Lance’s shadow.

Love and basketball.

It’s been the pulse of Lonnie Jackson’s family for generations, never more so than today, as the Valencia High basketball senior is averaging 30 points and has developed into one of California’s top players under the watchful eye of his father, Lance, a former All-City guard at Taft who has dedicated his life to helping Lonnie be all he can be — and perhaps just a bit more.

One step further than a shooting coach, the father even helped to develop a new product, the Shotmaster, a harness Lonnie has been wearing in practice for years that has helped the 6-foot-3 senior develop accuracy from the 3-point line and beyond.

It’s basketball from morning to midnight in the Jackson home, but there is no militaristic attitude, as the sport is still a game and not quite an obsession.

“The one thing I really wanted to make sure of is this wasn’t going to be a Todd Marinovich kind of a deal, where Lonnie would wake up in the morning and I would say, `OK, you’re going to run this many miles.’ I didn’t go that route,” said Lance, 51. “Everyone saw the way Marinovich self-destructed. Yes, I wanted Lonnie to make a choice and be committed, to work hard, and I’ve tried to facilitate that and help him with that. I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s given us an opportunity to spend a lot of time together.”

Time can be fleeting. Lonnie’s grandfather, Lonnie II, was “a sports fanatic” when Lance was growing up, but he died just before Lance’s junior year in high school when the young point guard was blossoming into a 1970s Valley legend at Taft before playing Division I basketball at Santa Clara.

Lonnie III, who can play both guard positions and small forward, has set every significant scoring record at Valencia — and he has a career free-throw percentage of nearly 90 percent.

“Lonnie is the best player I’ve ever played with. When he’s on the court, it makes it easier for everyone else,” teammate Jake Kelfer said.

“You give the guy the ball on the wing, and I have 100 percent confidence that he’ll make every shot.”

David Pump, Jackson’s AAU coach, calls Jackson “one of the best pure shooters in the West.”

“Lance did a good job developing him, but it was Lonnie who has put in all the hard work and made himself a better player,” Pump said. “Yes, his dad did develop him with the Shotmaster, but you’ve got to give Lonnie credit.”

Lonnie considers himself “a really competitive guy,” never more so than in the family backyard, where he and his father, who has kept in top shape through the years, used to play one-on-one for hours throughout Jackson’s childhood until the son finally defeated the master when he was 14.

“No, it was 15,” the father said.

“No, 14,” the son said, smiling.

“Sometimes, we’d be playing so hard, fighting and getting upset, that his mom would get upset with me, but I was just trying to make him better,” Lance said. “When he finally beat me, I did not let him win. He earned it.”

The backyard battles were a key part of the son’s development. “It made me tougher and more competitive,” Lonnie said.

Lakers fans remember Lance Jackson as a radio and TV pregame host on KTLA in the 1990s. He also worked for the Lakers as the director of sports marketing for four years. The elder Jackson made a fateful decision after the 1999 season, taking an executive job in the wobbly, reformed American Basketball Assn. with the Los Angeles Stars.

“It was very trying. It was a failure,” Lance said. “What a disaster. I was the director of marketing with no marketing budget. The team went bankrupt.”

Five years ago, the Shotmaster came along.

“It’s like a harness, and Mike Sealey invented it. He’s a genius,” Lance said. “At first, when he first put it on in seventh grade, we wanted to kind of keep it quiet for the competitive advantage. These days, it retails for $99, and we’re working on getting more financial backing, but a lot of people are using them, a lot at top schools like Taft, Crespi, Ventura.”

The son gave Jackson kind of a funny look when first approached to try it on a few years ago.

“It looked kind of weird. It wasn’t cool, but my dad said to keep using it,” he said.

Of course, the Shotmaster does not automatically make the ball go in the basket.

“Basically, it makes you shoot the same shot every time. It’s for muscle memory and discipline,” Lance said.

Valencia coach Rocket Collins is quick to point out his star guard is much more than a pure shooter.

“Yes, he’s a good shooter, one of the better ones I’ve seen, but he really knows the game,” Collins said. “Everyone talks about his shooting, but he knows the whole game — rebounds, assists, he make some passes. And he’s smart, and he can create plays. He can shoot, he can score, but he gets others involved, too.”

Jackson has signed with Boston College, one of the only non-big men from the Foothill League over the past two decades to earn a Division I scholarship straight out of high school. And he is a young senior, still 17.

Lonnie has gained 30 pounds since ninth grade, and he figures to get a lot bigger and stronger once he arrives in Boston.

“You won’t even recognize him. He has no idea what he’s in for,” Lance said. “He won’t have a choice. In the ACC, you have to be an animal.”

A lot of the ACC games are on TV, and the father plans to visit for some road games, but they’ll miss each other.

“Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to miss him,” Lance said. “But I’m just so excited for this opportunity and adventure. Going to Boston College in the ACC for your college experience? It doesn’t get any better. I just hope my son savors it and enjoys it.”

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